Tag: Mudlark

It’s time for part two of my most anticipated February releases. There’s so many exciting books here, including new releases from Louise Fein, Nicci French and Paul E. Hardisty, and debuts such as Butter and A Fate Inked in Blood.

So, here’s the rest of my most anticipated books out next month:

To Cage A God (Those Monstrous Gods 1) by Elizabeth May

Published February 20th by Daphne Press
Fantasy Fiction, Romantic Fantasy, Dark Fantasy

SYNOPSIS:
Join the rebellion to burn down a cruel tyrant in this heartracing new fantasy duology, perfect for fans of Shadow and Bone and The Wolf and the Woodsman.

To cage a god is divine. To be divine is to rule. To rule is to destroy.

Using ancient secrets, Galina and Sera’s mother grafted gods into their bones. Bound to brutal deities and granted forbidden power no commoner has held in a thousand years, the sisters have been raised as living weapons. Now, the time has come for them to overthrow an empire―no matter the cost.

With their mother gone and their country on the brink of war, it falls to the sisters to take the helm of the rebellion and end the cruel reign of a royal family possessed by destructive gods. Because when the ruling alurea invade, they conquer with fire and blood. And when they clash, common folk burn.

Forced into a desperate plan, Sera reunites with her estranged lover who now leads the rebellion, while Galina infiltrates the palace. In this world of deception and danger, her only refuge is an isolated princess whose whip-smart tongue and sharp gaze threaten to uncover Galina’s secret. Torn between desire and duty, Galina must make a choice: work together to expose the lies of the empire―or bring it all down.

Pre-order here*

The Guest by B. A . Paris

Published February 20th by Hodder & Stoughton
Thriller, Suspense, Psychological Thriller

SYNOPSIS:
THE TENSION-FILLED NEW NOVEL FROM THE AUTHOR OF NUMBER ONE DIGITAL BESTSELLER THE PRISONER .
‘Expertly plotted and compellingly told – a cautionary tale that will put you off ever having anyone to stay with you again. I raced through it!’ HARRIET TYCE

Iris and Gabriel have just got home from a make-or-break holiday. But a shock awaits them. One of their dearest friends, Laure, is in their house – sleeping in their bed, wearing Iris’ clothes, even rearranging the furniture. She has walked out on her husband – and their good friend – Pierre over his confession of an affair.

Iris and Gabriel want to be supportive. But as Laure’s mood becomes more unpredictable, her presence begins to unravel secrets in all their pasts – until things reach breaking point …

Pre-order here*

A Tempest of Tea (Blood & Tea Book 1) by Hafsah Faizal

Published February 22nd by Pan Macmillan
Fantasy Fiction, Romantic Fantasy, Paranormal Romance, Vampire Ficiton, YA Fantasy

SYNOPSIS:
From Hafsah Faizal, New York Times-bestselling author of We Hunt the Flame, comes A Tempest of Tea, the first book in a hotly-anticipated new fantasy duology about an orphan girl and her crew who get tangled in a heist with vampires, perfect for fans of Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows.

On the streets of White Roaring, Arthie Casimir is a criminal mastermind and collector of secrets. Her prestigious tearoom transforms into an illegal bloodhouse by dark, catering to the vampires feared by society. But when her establishment is threatened, Arthie is forced to strike an unlikely deal with an alluring adversary to save it-and she can’t do the job alone.

Calling on some of the city’s most skilled outcasts, Arthie hatches a plan to infiltrate the dark and glittering vampire society known as the Athereum. But not everyone in her ragtag crew is on her side, and as the truth behind the heist unfolds, Arthie finds herself in the midst of a conspiracy that will threaten the world as she knows it.

Dark, action-packed, and swoonworthy, this is Hafsah Faizal better than ever.

Pre-order here*

The Bad Ones by Melissa Albert

Published February 22nd by Penguin UK
Historical Mystery, Thriller, Crime Fiction, Fantasy Fiction, Supernatural Fiction, YA Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
House of Hollow meets A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, THE BAD ONES is a page-turning supernatural thriller about four mysterious disappearances in a town haunted by a sinister magical history – and one girl searching for the truth.

A GAME GONE WRONG. A MISSING FRIEND. A TOWN OF BURIED SECRETS . . .

Goddess, Goddess, count to five. In the morning, who’s alive?

One town. One night. Four people gone.

Nora’s best friend, Becca, is one of the lost. As Nora tries to piece together the truth, she uncovers dark events in her high school’s history and a string of coded messages Becca has left for her. These clues point to another missing girl thirty years previously and a sinister urban legend: a goddess figure, who played an eerie role in Nora and Becca’s own childhood games . . .

As Nora struggles to unravel the mystery, it’s clear there are dark forces at work in her town – and they’re willing to stop at nothing to keep their secrets buried deep.

Pre-order here*

The Golden Hour by Jacquie Bloese

Published February 22nd by Hodder & Stoughton
Historical Fiction, Historical Romance, Romance Novel, Lesbian Literature, Domestic Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
‘What a sumptuous, evocative triumph of a novel!’ JENNY ASHCROFT

At the golden hour, hidden truths and desires come to light . . .

In the genteel squares of late-Victorian Brighton, Ellen and Reynold Harper – twins, companions, colleagues – ply their trade as portrait photographers.

But at the golden hour, the models arrive to pose for the lucrative – and illicit – photographs that really keep the Harpers’ business afloat. This is the other, shadowy world of the city: a world of erotic tableaux, boundary-crossing music hall performers, and the sinister figure of the local gangster, the Croc.

When Ellen is drawn into the orbit of unhappy newly-wed Clementine, she finds herself torn between loyalty to her brother, her dangerous attraction to new model, Lily, and her burgeoning friendship with Clem. And as the two worlds of Brighton collide, the three women discover that there is only a knife edge between the promise of freedom, and the threat of ruin . . .

Atmospheric, sensual and powerfully moving, The Golden Hour is a spellbinding portrait of three women determined to find their freedom – perfect for fans of Sarah Waters, The Doll Factory and The Essex Serpent.

Pre-order here*

Where There Was Fire by John Mauel Arias

Published February 22nd by Picador
Saga, , Contemporary Horror, Ghost Horror, Political Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
Costa Rica, 1968. When a lethal fire erupts at the American Fruit Company’s most lucrative banana plantation burning all evidence of a massive cover-up, the future of Teresa Cepeda Valverde’s family is changed for ever.

Now, twenty-seven years later, Teresa and her daughter Lyra are still picking up the pieces. Lyra wants nothing to do with Teresa, but is desperate to find out what happened to her family that fateful night. Teresa, haunted by a missing husband and the bitter ghost of her mother, is unable to reconcile the past. What unfolds is a story of a mother and daughter trying to forgive what they do not yet understand, and the mystery at the heart of one family’s rupture, steeped in machismo, jealousy and greed.

Where There Was Fire brims with ancestral spirits, omens and the forces of nature. John Manuel Arias’s extraordinary debut novel weaves a brilliant tapestry of love – lost and found again – and, ultimately, redemption.

Pre-order here*

The Playdate by Clara Dillon

Published February 22nd by Sandycove
Mystery, Thriller, Psychological Thriller, Literary Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
Two mothers. Two daughters. Two sides to the story.

When Sara leaves her high-flying London life to move to Dublin, her only concern is her nine-year-old daughter, Lexie. For Lexie’s sake she tries to get to know other mothers at the school gates, but they appear uninterested – particularly their leader, the beautiful and charismatic Vanessa, whose daughter rules the playground.

After a simple misunderstanding between Vanessa and Sara, none of the other kids at school want anything to do with Lexie. Desperate to mend fences, Sara offers to look after Vanessa’s daughter one afternoon. But when the playdate ends in catastrophe, Vanessa is convinced that what happened wasn’t an accident.

With allegations flying in all directions, Sara is forced to ask herself what she has unleashed? And how far a mother will go to protect her daughter?

Pre-order here*

The Teacher’s Secret by Lauren North

Published February 23rd by Bookouture
Psychological Thriller, Saga

SYNOPSIS:
On a sunny Friday afternoon, beloved teacher Mrs. Walker and her eight-year-old son wave goodbye to their friends in the school playground. But they never make it home…

It’s only been a week, but the bright little faces at the picture-perfect school I’ve stepped into have captured my heart. Their big doe eyes, their paint-covered fingers and clinging hugs. They’ve been through so much, with their favourite teacher and classmate still missing…

I’m doing all I can to help them adjust, but I can’t avoid the swirling rumours that say Cate Walker’s charismatic husband, Oliver – our headteacher – is involved in her disappearance. The thought makes me shudder. But the more I find out about Cate, the more I wonder if she was also hiding a terrible secret…

I’m determined to uncover the truth about what really happened. I have to protect these other innocent children from the same fate – it’s my duty as their teacher.

That is, until an anonymous note turns up threatening me if I don’t stop looking. Until my home is broken into while I sleep.

I know the longer I stay here, the more danger I’m in.

But whoever’s trying to scare me doesn’t know who I am – or why I’m really here.

Or just how far I’ll go to protect the people I love…

An absolutely gripping psychological thriller, where no one is who they seem, that will get your heart pounding! Perfect for fans of addictive page-turners like The Housemaid, The Family Across the Street and The Family Upstairs.

Pre-order here*

A Fate Inked In Blood (Saga of the Unfated Book 1) by Danielle L. Jensen

Published February 27th by Del Rey
Romantic Fantasy, Romance Novel, Fantasy Fiction, Viking Romance, Norse Muthology

SYNOPSIS:
A shield maiden blessed by the gods battles to unite a nation under a power-hungry king – while also fighting her growing desire for his fiery son – in this Norse-inspired fantasy romance from the bestselling author of The Bridge Kingdom series.

Bound in an unwanted marriage, Freya spends her days gutting fish, but dreams of becoming a warrior. And of putting an axe in her boorish husband’s back.

Freya’s dreams abruptly become reality when her husband betrays her to the region’s jarl, landing her in a fight to the death against his son. To survive, Freya is forced to reveal her deepest secret: she possesses a drop of a goddess’s blood, which gives her magic capable of repelling any attack. A magic that was foretold would unite the fractured nation of Skaland beneath a king-the one who controls the shield maiden’s fate.

Believing he’s destined to rule Skaland, the fanatical jarl binds Freya with a blood oath and orders his son, Bjorn, to protect Freya from their enemies. Desperate to prove her strength, Freya must train to fight and learn to control her magic, all while facing perilous tests set by the gods. Except the greatest test of all may be resisting her forbidden attraction to Bjorn. If Freya succumbs to her lust for the charming and fierce warrior, she risks not only her own destiny but the fate of all the people she swore to protect.

Pre-order here*

Clairmont by Lesley McDowell

Published February 29th by Wildfire
Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Adventure Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
**The spellbinding, bold new retelling of the story of Lord Byron and the Shelleys, from the perspective of Claire Clairmont, the incredible woman that history tried to forget.**

‘Beautifully written, Clairmont tells the sensuous hidden story of an influential historic woman.’ Sara Sheridan, author of The Fair Botanists Waterstones Scottish Book of the Year

‘An absorbing, intoxicating page-turner about a woman who deserves to be remembered.’ Jennifer Saint, author of Ariadne and Atalanta

‘An intimate and enlightening tale of one of Romanticism’s forsaken muses – an artfully told story that lingers in the mind far beyond the last page’ Susan Stokes-Chapman, author of Pandora

1816. A massive volcanic eruption has caused the worst storms that Europe has seen in decades, yet Percy and Mary Shelley have chosen to visit the infamous Lord Byron at his villa on Lake Geneva. It wasn’t their idea: Mary’s eighteen year old step-sister, Claire Clairmont, insisted.

But the reason for Claire’s visit is more pressing than a summer escape with the most famous writers in the world. She’s pregnant with Byron’s child – a child Byron doesn’t want, and scarcely believes is his own.

Claire has the world in her grasp. This trip should have given her everything she ever dreamed of. But within days, her life will be in ruins.

History has all but forgotten her story – but she will not be silenced.

Pre-order here*

The London Bookshop Affair by Louise Fein

Published February 29th by Harper Muse
Historical Fiction, Thriller, Romane Novel, Domestic Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
From the bestselling author of Daughter of the Reich, an historical drama set in London about a bookshop involved in an espionage network.

“An utterly atmospheric and completely compelling read!” —Julia Kelly, international bestselling author of The Lost English Girl

Two courageous women. One astonishing secret. A world on the brink of war.

London, 1962: The world is teetering on the brink of nuclear war but life must go on. Celia Duchesne longs for a career, but with no means or qualifications, passes her time working at a dusty bookshop. The day a handsome American enters the shop, she thinks she might have found her way out of the monotony. Just as the excitement of a budding relationship engulfs her, a devastating secret draws her into the murky world of espionage.

France, 1942: Nineteen-year-old Anya Moreau was dropped behind enemy lines to aid the resistance, sending messages back home to London via wireless transmitter. When she was cruelly betrayed, evidence of her legacy and the truth of her actions were buried by wartime injustices.

As Celia learns more about Anya—and her unexpected connection to the undercover agent—she becomes increasingly aware of furious efforts, both past and present, to protect state secrets. With her newly formed romance taking a surprising turn and the world on the verge of nuclear annihilation, Celia must risk everything she holds dear, in the name of justice.

Propulsive and illuminating, The London Bookshop Affair is a gripping story of secrets and love, inspired by true events and figures of the Cold War.

Pre-order here*

Unsinkable by Jenni L. Walsh

Published February 29th by Haper Muse
Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, War Story, Adventure Fiction, Nautical Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
The Titanic was only the beginning. What she survived has become legend.

Violet Jessop is Miss Unsinkable.

After her mother becomes too ill to work, the responsibility to provide for the family falls to Violet as the oldest of nine. When the world enters the Great War, she serves as a nurse, helping men who could very well be her brothers. Working as a stewardess and wartime nurse, Violet not only survives a shipwreck but also two sinkings, one on the infamous Titanic. No one can understand why she would return to sea, but something keeps drawing Violet back to the tumultuous waters, where she struggles to put the tragedies of her past behind her and pursue a life and love all her own.

Daphne has survived calamity of her own.

Daphne Chaundanson grows up as an unwanted child after her mother died in a tragedy. She throws herself into education, collecting languages like candy in a desperate attempt to finally earn her father’s approval. When the Special Operations Executive invites her to be an agent in France in World War II, her childhood of anonymity and her love of languages make her the perfect fit. She sees it as an opportunity to help the country she loves and live up to her father’s expectations. But the dangers of war challenge Daphne in ways she never could have expected, and the secrets from her own past must be faced for her to truly have a future beyond the conflict—if she can survive it.

Inspired by true stories of Violet Jessop and the thirty-nine women of the Special Operations Executive. Two unsinkable women. Two stories of survival, family, and finding one’s own happiness. One connection that reshapes both their lives forever.

Pre-order here*

Remember, Remember by Elle Machray

Published February 29th by Harper North
Historical Fiction, Alternative History, LGBTQ Literature, Adventure Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
Gunpowder, treason and a plot to destroy the British Empire…

**AN OBSERVER TOP 10 DEBUT NOVELIST OF 2024**

‘Couldn’t put this book down. Beautiful, tender, and ruthless’ HANNAH KANER

__________

1770. Delphine lives in the shadows of London: a secret, vibrant world of smugglers, courtesans and small rebellions. Four years ago, she escaped enslavement at great personal cost. Now, she must help her brother Vincent do the same.

While Britain’s highest court fails to administer justice for Vincent, little rebellions are no longer enough. What’s needed is a big, explosive plot – one that will strike at the heart of the transatlantic slave trade. But can one woman, one fuse and one match bring down an Empire?

An incendiary alternative history, Remember, Remember is a gripping story of conscience, conspiracy, queer identity and courage in the face of injustice.

Pre-order here*

Has Anyone Seen Charlotte Salter by Nicci French

Published February 29th by Simon & Schuster UK
Suspense, Mystery, Crime Fiction, Psychological Fiction, Domestic Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
‘Classic Nicci French: an unputdownable missing-persons thriller that’s also a searing examination of family, memory and grief. A big-skied, full-blooded, broken-hearted book’ Erin Kelly

She’s loved by all who meet her. But someone wants her gone . . .
Then 

When beautiful and vivacious Charlotte Salter fails to turn up to her husband Alec’s 50th birthday party, her kids are worried, but Alec is not. As the days pass and there’s still no word from Charlie, her daughter, Etty, and her sons, Niall, Paul and Ollie, all struggle to come to terms with her disappearance.
How can anyone just vanish without a trace?
Left with no answers and in limbo, the Salter children try and go on with their lives, all the while thinking that their mother’s killer is potentially very close to home.

Now

After years away, Etty returns home to the small East Anglian village where she grew up to help move her father into a care home. Now in his eighties, Alec has dementia and often mistakes his daughter for her mother. 
Etty is a changed woman from the trouble-free girl she was when Charlie was still around – all the Salter children have spent decades running and hiding from their mother’s disappearance.
But when their childhood friends, Greg and Morgen Ackerley, decide to do a podcast about Charlotte’s disappearance, it seems like the town’s buried secrets – and the Salters’ – might finally come to light.

After all this time, will they finally find out what really happened to Charlotte Salter?

Pre-order here*

The Escape Room by L. D. Smithson

Published February 29th by Bantam Press
Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Psycholgical Thriller, Crime Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
Eight contestants. One killer. Can you find the traitor?

‘Wow! What a page-turner. I’m a Celebrity meets Lord of the Flies.’ Emma Curtis

‘The pace never slackens.’ Faith Martin

‘Dark, disturbing and addictive.’ L. C. North

Everything is a clue.
Bonnie arrives on a remote sea fort off the coast of England to take part in a mysterious reality TV show. Competing against seven strangers, she must solve a series of puzzles to win the prize money, but this is no game – and the consequences of failure are deadly.

No one leaves.
Under scrutiny from the watching public, the contestants quickly turn on one another. Who will sacrifice the most for wealth and fame? And why can’t Bonnie shake the creeping sense that they are not alone?

The only way out is to win.
When the first contestant is found dead, Bonnie begins to understand the dark truth at the heart of this twisted competition: there’s a killer inside the fort, and anyone could be next. If Bonnie wants to escape, she needs to win…

Are you ready to play?

Pre-order here*

Everyone On This Train Is A Suspect by Benjamin Stevenson

Published February 29th by Michael Joseph
Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Cozy Mystery, Crime Fiction, Dark Comedy

SYNOPSIS:
‘Clever, satisfying, impossible to put down and gloriously inventive. It’s fantastic’ STUART TURTON

SIX WRITERS. FIVE DETECTIVES. FOUR DAYS. THREE WEAPONS. TWO MURDERS. ONE TRAIN…

When the Australian Mystery Writers’ Society invited me to their crime-writing festival aboard the Ghan, the famous train between Darwin and Adelaide, I was hoping for some inspiration for my second book. Fiction, this time: I needed a break from real people killing each other. Obviously, that didn’t pan out.

The program is a who’s who of crime writing royalty:

the debut writer (me!)
the forensic science writer
the blockbuster writer
the legal thriller writer
the literary writer
the psychological suspense writer.

But when one of us is murdered, six authors quickly turn into five detectives. Together, we should know how to solve a crime.

Or commit one…

But how do you catch a killer, when all your suspects know how to get away with murder?

Pre-order here*

The Lagos Wife by Vanessa Walters

Published February 29th by Hutchinson Heinmann
Thriller, Mystery, Suspense, Crime Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
‘A thrillingly suspenseful novel that reveals its riches, layers and secrets through effortlessly elegant prose . . . I was hooked right through to the shocking end‘ BERNARDINE EVARISTO

‘Obsessed‘ KERRY WASHINGTON

‘A shimmering success’ DIANA EVANS

Nicole Oruwari has the perfect life: a handsome husband, a palatial house in the heart of Lagos and a glamorous group of friends. She left London and a troubled family past behind to become part of a community of expat wives.

But when Nicole disappears without a trace after a boat trip, the cracks in her so-called perfect life start to show. As the investigation turns up nothing but dead ends, her aunt Claudine flies to Nigeria to take matters into her own hands. As she digs into her niece’s life, she uncovers a hidden truth. But the more she finds out about Nicole, the more Claudine’s own buried history threatens to come to light.

Pre-order here*

Butter by Asako Yuzuki

Published February 29th by Fourth Estate
Mystery, Thriller, Suspense, Crime Fiction, Psychological Fiction, Translated Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
‘Compelling, delightfully weird, often uncomfortable’ PANDORA SYKES

‘Unputdownable, breathtakingly original’ ERIN KELLY

‘Delicious’ i-D Magazine

‘Luscious … I devoured this’ IMOGEN CRIMP

The cult Japanese bestseller about a female gourmet cook and serial killer and the journalist intent on cracking her case, inspired by a true story.

There are two things that I can simply not tolerate: feminists and margarine.

Gourmet cook Manako Kajii sits in Tokyo Detention Centre convicted of the serial murders of lonely businessmen, who she is said to have seduced with her delicious home cooking. The case has captured the nation’s imagination but Kajii refuses to speak with the press, entertaining no visitors. That is, until journalist Rika Machida writes a letter asking for her recipe for beef stew and Kajii can’t resist writing back.

Rika, the only woman in her news office, works late each night, rarely cooking more than ramen. As the visits unfold between her and the steely Kajii, they are closer to a masterclass in food than journalistic research. Rika hopes this gastronomic exchange will help her soften Kajii but it seems that she might be the one changing. With each meal she eats, something is awakening in her body, might she and Kaji have more in common than she once thought?

Inspired by the real case of the convicted con woman and serial killer, “The Konkatsu Killer”, Asako Yuzuki’s Butter is a vivid, unsettling exploration of misogyny, obsession, romance and the transgressive pleasures of food in Japan.

‘A salty morsel with one hell of a bite’ ALICE SLATER

‘A tour de force that will leave readers satisfied‘ RYŌ ASAI

Pre-order here*

End of Story by A. J. Finn

Published February 29th by Hemlock Press
Mystery, Suspense, Psychologcial Thriller, Crime Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
The brand new edge-of-your-seat thriller from the author of the smash hit bestseller The Woman in the Window.

“I’ll be dead in three months. Come tell my story.”

This is the chilling invitation from Sebastian Trapp, renowned mystery novelist, to his long-time correspondent Nicky Hunter, an expert in detective fiction. Welcomed into his lavish San Francisco mansion, Nicky begins to unravel Trapp’s life story under the watchful eyes of his enigmatic wife and plainspoken daughter.

But Sebastian Trapp is a mystery himself. And maybe – probably – a murderer.

Two decades ago, his first wife and son vanished, the case never solved. Is the master of mystery playing a deadly game? If so, who will be the loser?

And when a body surfaces in the family’s garden, they all realize the past isn’t buried – it’s waiting.

Pre-order here*

The Descent by Paul E.Hardisty

Published February 29th by Orenda Books
Science Fiction, Fantasy Fiction, Polictical Fiction, Adventure Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
A young man and his young family set out on a perilous voyage across a devastated planet to uncover the origin of the events that set the world on its course to disaster … The prescient, deeply shocking prequel to the bestselling, critically acclaimed Climate Emergency thriller, The Forcing.
 
Kweku Ashworth is a child of the cataclysm, born on a sailboat to parents fleeing the devastation in search for a refuge in the Southern Ocean. Growing up in a world forever changed, his only connection to the events that set the planet on its course to disaster were the stories his step-father, long-dead, recorded in his manuscript, The Forcing. 
 
But there are huge gaps in the story that his mother, still alive but old and frail, steadfastly refuses to speak of, even thirty years later. When he discovers evidence that his mother has tried to cover up the truth, and then stumbles across an account by someone close to the men who forced the globe into a climate catastrophe, he knows that it is time to find out for himself.
 
Determined to learn what really happened during his mother’s escape from the concentration camp to which she and Kweku’s father were banished, and their subsequent journey halfway around the world, Kweku and his young family set out on a perilous voyage across a devastated planet. What they find will challenge not only their faith in humanity, but their ability to stay alive.
 
The Descent is the devastating, nerve-shattering prequel to the critically acclaimed thriller The Forcing, a story of survival, hope, and the power of the human spirit in a world torn apart by climate change.

Pre-order here

Death Flight (The Jonny Murphy Files Volume 2) by Sarah Sultoon

Published February 29th by Orenda Books
Crime Fiction, Thriller, Political Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
Cub reporter Jonny Murphy is in Buenos Aires interviewing families of victims of Argentina’s Dirty War, when a headless torso has washed up on a city beach, thrusting him into a shocking investigation…
 
Argentina. 1998. Human remains are found on a beach on the outskirts of Buenos Aires – a gruesome echo of when the tide brought home dozens of mutilated bodies thrown from planes during Argentina’s Dirty War. Flights of death, with passengers known as the Disappeared.
 
International Tribune reporter Jonny Murphy is in Buenos Aires interviewing families of the missing, desperate to keep their memory alive, when the corpse turns up. His investigations with his companion, freelance photographer Paloma Glenn, have barely started when Argentina’s simmering financial crisis explodes around them. 
 
As the fabric of society starts to disintegrate and Argentine cities burn around them, Jonny and Paloma are suddenly thrust centre stage, fighting to secure both their jobs and their livelihoods.
 
But Jonny is also fighting something else, an echo from his own past that he’ll never shake, and as it catches up with him and Paloma, he must make choices that will endanger everything he knows…

Pre-order here

The Story Collector by Iris Costello

Published February 29th by Penguin UK
Hisotorical Fiction, Historical Mystery, Historical Romance, Historical Thriller, Mystery,

SYNOPSIS:
THREE LOST SOULS.
A LONG-BURIED SECRET.
THE TRUTH THAT COULD SET THEM FREE…

—–

London, 1915: Tarot reader Katerina is trying to hold her life together amid the wartime chaos. When she opens a bakery that offers divination alongside sweet treats, she is hailed as a beacon of hope. But Katerina is hiding a dark truth that could cost her everything.

Germany, 1918: A mute British soldier is taken to a prisoner of war camp where he meets Miriam, a researcher. She is drawn to his gentle manner and secretly vows to help him. But soon she will have to make an impossible choice: will she save the one she loves, or herself?

Cornwall, Present Day: Recently widowed Edie is astonished to discover a mysterious box hidden in the wall of her newly renovated cottage. As Edie starts to investigate, she uncovers a secret that has lain hidden for over a century…

A long-held secret ties the tales of three women, from the cobbled streets of war-time London to an isolated German WWI camp, and the sea-swept cliffs of Cornwall. Beautifully told, moving and unforgettable.

Pre-order here*

The Painter’s Daughters by Emily Howes

Published February 29th by Phoenix
Historical Fiction, Romance Novel, Regency Romance, Christian Fiction, Religious Fiction, Regency Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
SELECTED FOR THE BBC RADIO 2 BOOK CLUB
WINNER OF THE MSLEXIA NOVEL COMPETITION

‘Beautifully written . . . I raced through it’ HILARY MANTEL

‘As exquisitely and tenderly rendered as a Gainsborough painting’ TRACY CHEVALIER

‘A moving exploration of the familial ties that bind us and the grief of a life half-lived . . . a wonderful debut that lingered with me’ ELIZABETH MACNEAL

1759, Ipswich. Sisters Peggy and Molly Gainsborough are the best of friends and do everything together. They spy on their father as he paints, they rankle their mother as she manages the books, they tear barefoot through the muddy fields that surround their home. But there is another reason they are inseparable: from a young age, Molly has had a tendency to forget who she is, to fall into mental confusion, and Peggy knows instinctively that no one must find out.

When the family move to Bath, the sisters are thrown into the whirl of polite society, where the merits of marriage and codes of behaviour are crystal clear, and secrets much harder to keep. As Peggy goes to greater lengths to protect her sister from the threat of an asylum, she finds herself falling in love, and their precarious situation is soon thrown catastrophically off course. The discovery of a betrayal forces Peggy to question all she has done for Molly – and whether any one person can truly change the fate of another.

Pre-order here*

The Antique Hunter’s Guide To Murder by C. L. Miller

Published February 29th by Pan Macmillan
Mystery, Thriller, Cozy Mystery, Crime Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
‘A bold, bright and delightful jaunt back to the golden age of detective fiction’ Janice Hallett

‘A delicious read – who could resist a treasure hunt with murder at its core?’ SJ Bennett

‘It’s a delight!’ Katie Fforde

What antique would you kill for?

Freya, it’s down to you to finish what I started . . .

Freya Lockwood has avoided the quaint English village in which she grew up for the last 20 years. That is until news arrives that Arthur Crockleford, antiques dealer and Freya’s estranged mentor, has died . . . and the circumstances seem suspicious.

You will uncover an invitation, I implore you to attend . . .

But when a letter from Arthur is delivered, sent just days before his death, and an ordinary pine chest concealing Arthur’s journals are revealed, Freya finds herself sucked back into a life she’d sworn to leave behind.

But beware, trust no-one. Your life depends on it . . .

Joining forces with her eccentric Aunt Carole, Arthur’s staunch best friend, Freya follows both clues and her instincts to an old manor house for an ‘antiques enthusiasts weekend’. But not is all as it seems; the antiques are bad reproductions and the guests all have something to hide.

Can Freya and Carole solve the mystery and unearth the killer before they strike again?

Pre-order here*

Fathomfolk by Eliza Chan

Published February 29th by Orbit
Fantasy Fiction, Urban Fantasy, High Fantasy, Romatic Fantasy

SYNOPSIS:
‘Prepare to be engulfed. Chan has superbly created a world as real and complex as our own, where oppression has no easy solutions and there is no success without sacrifice. Fast-paced action combined with true social depth make this an unforgettable, must-read fantasy’
Shelley Parker-Chan

Revolution is brewing in the semi-submerged city of Tiankawi, between humans and the fathomfolk who live in its waters. This gloriously imaginative debut fantasy, inspired by East Asian mythology and ocean folk tales, is a novel of magic, rebellion and change.

Welcome to Tiankawi – shining pearl of human civilization and a safe haven for those fleeing civil unrest. Or at least, that’s how it first appears. But in the semi-flooded city, humans are, quite literally, on top: peering down from shining towers and aerial walkways on the fathomfolk – sirens, seawitches, kelpies and kappas – who live in the polluted waters below.

For half-siren Mira, promotion to captain of the border guard means an opportunity to help her downtrodden people. But if earning the trust and respect of her human colleagues wasn’t hard enough, everything Mira has worked towards is put in jeopardy when Nami, a know-it-all water dragon and fathomfolk princess – is exiled to the city, under Mira’s watch. When extremists sabotage a city festival, violence erupts, as does the clampdown on fathomfolk rights. Both Nami and Mira must decide if the cost of change is worth paying, or if Tiankawi should be left to drown.

Pre-order here*

The Crimson Moth by Kristen Ciccarelli

Published February 29th by Magpie
Romantic Fantasy, Historical Romance, Fantasy Fiction, Paranormal Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
Enemies-to-lovers doesn’t get more high stakes than a witch and a witch hunter falling in love in bestselling author Kristen Ciccarelli’s latest romantic fantasy.

On the night Rune’s life changed forever, blood ran in the streets. Now, in the aftermath of a devastating revolution, witches have been diminished from powerful rulers to outcasts ruthlessly hunted due to their waning magic, and Rune must hide what she is.

Spending her days pretending to be nothing more than a vapid young socialite, Rune spends her nights as the Crimson Moth, a witch vigilante who rescues her kind from being purged. When a rescue goes wrong, she decides to throw the witch hunters off her scent and gain the intel she desperately needs by courting the handsome Gideon Sharpe – a notorious and unforgiving witch hunter loyal to the revolution – who she can’t help but find herself falling for.

Gideon loathes the decadence and superficiality Rune represents, but when he learns the Crimson Moth has been using Rune’s merchant ships to smuggle renegade witches out of the republic, he inserts himself into her social circles by pretending to court her right back. He soon realizes that beneath her beauty and shallow façade, is someone fiercely intelligent and tender who feels like his perfect match. Except, what if she’s the very villain he’s been hunting?

Kristen Ciccarelli’s The Crimson Moth is the thrilling start to a romantic fantasy duology where the only thing more treacherous than being a witch…is falling in love.

Pre-order here*

Where the Dark Stands Still by A. B. Poranek

Published February 29th by Penguin UK
Fantasy Fiction, Fairy Tales, Dark Fantasy, Paranormal Fiction, Romantic Fantasy, YA Fantasy

SYNOPSIS:
‘Where the Dark Stands Still is a triumph; a deeply romantic debut with spiralling, atmospheric prose that swept me up and away to the enchanted forests of Polish folklore. You’ll never want to leave this beautiful, magical world’. Sarah Underwood, NYT Bestselling Author of Lies We Sing to theSea

A sweeping gothic fairytale romance for fans of Belladonna by Adalyn Grace and Gallant by V.E. Schwab.

Raised in a small village near the spirit-wood, Liska Radost knows that Magic is monstrous, and its practitioners, monsters.

After Liska unleashes her own powers with devastating consequences, she is caught by the demon warden of the wood – the Leszy – who offers her a bargain: one year of servitude in exchange for a wish.

Whisked away to his crumbling manor, Liska makes an unsettling discovery: she is not the first person to strike this bargain and all of her predecessors have mysteriously vanished. If Liska wants to survive the year and return home, she must unravel her host’s spool of secrets and face the ghosts of his past.

Those who enter the wood do not always return . . .

Pre-order here*

The Fetishist by Katherine Min

Published February 29th by Fleet
Literary Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, Humorous Fiction

SYNOPSIS:
*AN OPRAH DAILY MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF 2024*

‘Incandescent, astonishing, a miracle. I’m elated and deeply grateful this book exists’ R. O. Kwon

‘Katherine Min is a singular, wildly talented voice and this is a trailblazing novel’ Sharlene Teo

‘Fiercely intelligent, perfectly crafted, and brimming with wit’ Lisa Ko

A provocative, hilariously savage, and poignant novel by acclaimed author Katherine Min, to be published posthumously, about a daughter’s revenge on the man whom she believes drove her mother to her death . . . and nothing goes as planned.

The rain has made everything cold and damp, and it’s the perfect evening for Kyoko to exact her revenge. After years of rage and grief over her mother’s death, Kyoko has decided who is to blame: a man named Daniel, a fellow violinist who had wooed her mother, Emi, during their time together in an orchestra, and then dropped her – driving her to her death. Kyoko follows the unsuspecting Daniel home and manages to get her rash kidnapping plot off the ground . . . and really, what could go wrong?

The Fetishist is the story of three people – Kyoko, a young singer in a punk band who cannot find enough ways to channel her angry sorrow; Daniel, a seemingly hapless man who finally faces the wreckage of his past; and Alma, the love of Daniel’s life, long adored for her beauty and talent, but who spends her final days examining if she was ever, truly, loved. It’s a beautiful, piercing and timely story that confronts race, ideals of femininity, complicity and visibility. Written and completed before the celebrated author’s death in 2019, it’s startlingly relevant and prescient, as wise and powerful as it is utterly moving.

Pre-order here*

A Bookshop of One’s Own by Jane Chomeley

Published February 29th by Mudlark
Biography, Autobiography, Literary Reference

SYNOPSIS:
The captivating true story of an underdog business – a feminist bookshop founded in Thatcher’s Britain – from a woman at the heart of the women’s liberation movement.

An Independent and Stylist Best Non-Fiction Book for 2024

What was it like to start a feminist bookshop, in an industry dominated by men? How could a lesbian thrive in Thatcher’s time, with the government legislating to restrict her rights? How do you run a business when your real aim is to change the world?

Silver Moon was the dream of three women – a bookshop with the mission to promote the work of female writers and create a much-needed safe space for any woman. Founded in 1980s London against a backdrop of homophobia and misogyny, it was a testament to the power of community, growing into Europe’s biggest women’s bookshop and hosting a constellation of literary stars from Margaret Atwood and Maya Angelou to Angela Carter. While contending with day-to-day struggles common to other booksellers, plus the additional burdens of misogyny and the occasional hate crime, Jane Cholmeley and her booksellers created a thriving business. But they also played a crucial and relatively unsung part in one the biggest social movements of our time.

A Bookshop of One’s Own is a fascinating slice of social history from the heart of the women’s liberation movement, from a true feminist and lesbian icon. Written with heart and humour, it reveals the struggle and joy that comes with starting an underdog business, while being a celebration of the power women have to change the narrative when they are the ones holding the pen.

Pre-order here*

Maurice and Maralyn : A Whale, a Shipwreck, a Love Story by Sophie Elmhirst

Publshed February 29th by Chatto & Windus
Biography, True Stories

SYNOPSIS:
***A Waterstones Book You Need to Read in 2024 *** Guardian Biggest Nonfiction of 2024 *** Observer Nonfiction to Look Out for 2024 ***

‘One of those very special books that makes you put everything on hold so you can get back to it’ RACHEL JOYCE * ‘Beautiful, moving and genuinely unputdownable’ JOANNA CANNON * ‘Extraordinary . . . Elmhirst is a terrific writer’ ELIZABETH DAY * ‘Easily one of the most captivating works of narrative nonfiction I’ve ever read’ OLIVER BURKEMAN

What begins as an eccentric English love story turns into one of the most dramatic adventures ever recorded…

Maurice and Maralyn couldn’t be more different. He is as cautious and awkward as she is charismatic and forceful. It seems an unlikely romance, but it works.

Bored of 1970s suburban life, Maralyn has an idea: sell the house, build a boat, leave England — and its oil crisis, industrial strikes and inflation — forever. It is hard work, turning dreams into reality, but finally they set sail for New Zealand. Then, halfway there, their beloved boat is struck by a whale. It sinks within an hour, and the pair are cast adrift in the middle of the Pacific Ocean.

On their tiny raft, over the course of days, then months, their love is put to the test. When Maurice begins to withdraw into himself, it falls upon Maralyn to keep them both alive. Their pet turtle helps, as does devising menus for fantasy dinners and dreaming of their next voyage.

Filled with danger, spirit and tenderness, this is a book about human connection and the human condition; about how we survive — not just at sea, but in life.

Pre-order here*

********

Which of these are you adding to your TBR? Let me know in the comments.

********

Thanks for reading, Bibliophiles xxxx

*These are affiliate links